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2018-11-14

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2018-12-03T17:30:49.747Z

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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department's
press release entitled Youth unemployment down 50% since 2010, published on gov.uk
on 16 October 2018, what proportion of recorded employment was under a zero-hours
contract.

<p>The Office for National Statistics (ONS) use the Labour Force Survey (LFS) to provide
estimates for the number of people employed on zero hours’ contracts.</p><p> </p><p>The
ONS figures for people in employment on zero hours’ contracts broken down by age,
do not go back to 2010 and are only currently available up to April-June 2018. Therefore
no directly comparable figures to the youth unemployment statistics cited are available.</p><p>
</p><p>The majority of young people are not employed on zero hours’ contracts. In
2018 (Apr-Jun) there were 261,000 16-24 year olds on a zero hours’ contracts – representing
only 6.9% of employed 16-24 year olds.</p><p> </p><p>This is down from 299,000 young
people (7.8% of employed young people) in 2017 (Apr-Jun), but a slight increase from
the first comparable data available, which shows in 2014 (Apr-Jun) there were 235,000
young people on a zero hours’ contract (or 6.3% of employed young people).</p><p>
</p><p>Many people in full-time education are employed on zero hours’ contracts, in
part because of the flexibility they provide. 18.5% of all people in 2018 (Apr-Jun)
on zero hours’ contracts were in full-time education – compared to 2.3% of people
not on a zero hours’ contract.</p><p> </p><p>The ONS data shows that the majority
of people on zero hours’ contracts are happy with the hours provided by their zero
hours’ contract.</p>

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure
that the calculation of universal credit for self-employed people (a) accurately reflects
(i) the amount that they allocate to expenses to maintain their business and (ii)
their take-home earnings and (b) leaves those people in a better financial position
as a result of being in work.

<p>Claimants with earnings from self-employment are required to report them to DWP
on a monthly basis. These earnings are reported on a simplified 'cash accounting'
basis, which asks for the total income from receipts into the business and details
of payments out of the business under defined categories during the assessment period.
We assess net earnings after deducting business expenses. The requirements were designed
to be as simple as possible in order for self-employed claimants to easily report
their earnings and monthly reporting allows Universal Credit to be adjusted on a monthly
basis.</p><p> </p><p>Where claimants are in the 12-month grace period or are gainfully
self-employed and earning above the Minimum Income Floor (MIF), the single taper rate
acts to ensure that they are better off working and earning more under Universal Credit,
removing the cliff edges from the old legacy benefits system.</p><p>We announced at
Autumn Budget 2018 that all new gainfully self-employed claimants can, from September
2020, access a 12-month exemption period from the MIF. This change will assist all
gainfully self-employed claimants to grow their earnings, prepare and adjust for the
application of the MIF. In 2022/23 it will allow 130,000 self-employed people the
space to grow a successful business when moving on to Universal Credit.</p>

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion
of claimants of personal independence payment with Postural Tachyacardia Syndrome
(a) did not receive an award after their first assessment and (b) received an award
at tribunal.

<p>In relation to part (a), statistics on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) first
assessment outcomes at disability level are not readily available and have not previously
been published as Official Statistics. We are producing the statistics requested and
issuing them in an Official Statistics release on 11<sup>th</sup> December 2018 in
accordance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.</p><p> </p><p>In relation
to part (b), since PIP was introduced, 40 people with a primary disabling condition
of tachycardia who were disallowed PIP after their initial assessment went on to receive
an award at tribunal. The figures in (b) have been rounded to the nearest 10.</p><p>
</p><p>Overall, since PIP was introduced 3.5m decisions have been made up to June
2018, of these 9% have been appealed and 4% have been overturned.</p><p> </p><p>Appeals,
data is based on primary disabling condition as recorded on the PIP computer systems.
Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is
based but only the primary condition is shown in these statistics. The lowest level
of detail available in this data allows us to identify claimants with a primary disabling
condition of tachycardia, but not Postural Tachycardia Syndrome.</p><p> </p><p>The
appeals may include decisions which are changed at mandatory reconsideration, and
where the claimant continues to appeal for a higher PIP award, are then changed again
at tribunal appeal.</p>

<p>The number of band 3-5 prison officers who have re-joined HMPPS after having previously
left since 2009/10 is provided in table 1.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Table 1: Number of
band 3-5 prison officers<sup>1</sup> who have re-joined HMPPS after previously leaving<sup>2</sup>,
since 2009/10</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>Headcount</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Financial
Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number of band 3-5 prison officer who have re-joined
HMPPS</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009/10</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010/11</p></td><td><p>5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011/12</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012/13</p></td><td><p>4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013/14</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014/15</p></td><td><p>104</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015/16</p></td><td><p>27</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>102</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18</p></td><td><p>126</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19
(to Sep 30<sup>th</sup> 2018)</p></td><td><p>61</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Grand
Total</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>433</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>
</p><p> </p><p><em><sup>1</sup></em><em> Includes Band 3-4 / Prison Officer (incl
specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officer and Band 5 / Custodial Managers.</em></p><p><em><sup>2</sup></em><em>
Instances where the latest hire date is within 28 days of the leaving date have been
excluded from the above figures. This is because anyone re-joining within 28 days
legally still has continuity of employment.</em></p><p> </p><p>There has been a net
increase of 3,653 new officers since we announced our target to recruit 2,500 more
staff, meaning that officers with more experience make up a smaller proportion of
total staffing numbers.</p><p> </p><p>We recognise that experienced prison officers
do a vital job in protecting the public every day in very challenging environments
and we want them to stay and progress their careers alongside these new recruits.</p><p>
</p><p>That is why we have increased pay 2.75% this year, on top of a 1.7% average
increase last year, and have given Governors greater autonomy to do what is necessary
to retain their most experienced staff.</p><p> </p><p>It is also why we are rolling
out body worn cameras, ‘police-style’ handcuffs and restraints, and trialling PAVA
incapacitant spray to ensure prison officers have the tools they need to do the job
safely.</p>

<p>Figures for the number of offences of rape recorded by the police are published
by the Office for National Statistics.</p><p> </p><p>The number of defendants prosecuted
in the North East and England for rape offences are published by the Ministry of Justice
and can be found in the Court Outcomes by Police Force Area data tool in the following
link:</p><p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/733996/court-outcomes-by-pfa-2017-update.xlsx"
target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/733996/court-outcomes-by-pfa-2017-update.xlsx</a></p><p>
</p><ul><li>To calculate the total for <strong>England</strong>, deselect ‘Dyfed-Powys’,
‘Gwent’, ‘North Wales’ and ‘South Wales’ in the ‘Police Force Area’ filter.</li><li>To
identify the <strong>North East</strong>, select ‘Cleveland’, ‘Durham’, ‘Humberside’,
‘North Yorkshire’, ‘Northumbria’, ‘South Yorkshire’ and ‘West Yorkshire’ in the ‘Police
Force Area’ filter.</li><li>For the number of prosecutions, filter ‘Court Type’ by
’02: Magistrates Court’.</li><li>For rape offences, filter ‘Offence’ to:</li></ul><p>o
19C Rape of a female aged 16 or over</p><p>o 19D Rape of a female aged under 16</p><p>o
19E Rape of a female child under 13 by a male</p><p>o 19F Rape of a male aged under
16</p><p>o 19G Rape of a male aged 16 or over</p><p>o 19H Rape of a male child under
13 by a male</p>

<p>In 2016/17, there were 206 incidents where Spice was found in South Yorkshire prisons,
and in 2017/18, there were 154 incidents. Data for finds of psychoactive substances
in the months since March 2018 will be available on GOV.UK in July 2019, as part of
the Annual HMPPS Digest. The number of drug finds reflects not only the number of
attempts to convey illicit substances into our prisons but also our success in finding
these drugs.</p><p> </p><p>Psychoactive substances are a game changer for prison safety,
and this statistic reinforces the scale of the challenge. We are addressing this head
on, and have invested £7 million in modern technology, including phone blocking technology
and improved searching techniques. We have made it a criminal offence to possess psychoactive
substances in prison and trained more than 300 sniffer dogs specifically to detect
these drugs.</p><p> </p><p>We are also adopting pioneering approaches such as our
‘Drug Recovery Prison’ pilot at HMP Holme House, which is leading the way in tackling
the supply of drugs and putting offenders on a long-term path to recovery.</p>

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to paragraph 77 on page
27 of the report of the Health and Social Care Committee Prison Health, published
on 1 November 2018, HC 963, what steps he plans to take to prevent prisoners from
developing a problem with illicit drugs while in prison.

<p>I am grateful for the time that the Committee has spent looking at prison healthcare.
We are considering carefully the Committee’s recommendations and will respond in due
course. Tackling drugs is vital to ensure safe and productive prison environments
and this includes preventing prisoners developing substance misuse issues.</p><p>To
do this, we have formed a Drugs Taskforce, working with law enforcement and health
partners across government. The Taskforce is developing a national drugs strategy,
underpinned by advice and guidance that will support the whole of the estate to restrict
supply, reduce demand and build recovery. Restricting access to illicit drugs in prison
is crucial to preventing substance misuse. We are working with the police to catch
and convict criminals who smuggle contraband into prisons, and exploring additional
security measures and new technology to stop these incursions. Reducing demand for
drugs in prison also requires us to get the incentives right. We have developed the
concept of ‘Incentivised Substance Free Living’, where prisoners who can demonstrate
– through regular compact-based and random mandatory testing – that they are not misusing
drugs can experience better living conditions. This will support prisoners to make
good decisions and prevent them developing issues with substance misuse. We are also
testing innovative approaches through our £9 million joint Ministry of Justice and
Department of Health and Social Care Drug Recovery Prison pilot at HMP Holme House.</p><p>
</p>

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) median and (b) mean times
were for private landlords to progress from a claim to possession of a property by
a county court bailiff for the most recent period for which figures are available
(i) across England and (ii) by each court circuit.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the 23 November 2018
Government news release on new search teams to disrupt and deter violence in prisons,
whether those teams will be placed in prisons in South Yorkshire.

<p>A dedicated search team (DST) will be in place to cover Yorkshire and Humberside.
These measures, together with our unrelenting focus on rehabilitation, will help to
ensure prisons are places where offenders can turn their backs on crime, and ultimately
prevent future victims.</p>

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to her
Department's Memorandum of Understanding with the Palestinian Authority, what discussions
her Department has had with the PA on a video posted on social media on 2 November
2018 by PA Education Minister Sabri Saidam which included the line, it was said that
the old continent was sick of the behaviour of the Jews at the time and therefore
it planned to get rid of them.

<p>The UK strongly condemns any language or actions that could stir up hatred and
prejudice. Our sustained support to the Palestinian Authority (PA) is underpinned
by a Memorandum of Understanding which requires the PA to commit to the principle
of non-violence and to tackle language and avoid actions that could incite violence
or hatred. The UK continues to urge the Palestinian leadership to uphold this principle.
President Abbas restated his commitment to the two-state solution on September 27
at the UN General Assembly.</p>